Training Period Questionnaire

Name:_______________Work Placement:___________________

Dates:__________to____________	(Circle) England OR France

Circle the appropriate answer from the multiple-choice answers, adding an extra information if necessary.

1. What type of company were you working in ?

a) A private limited company

b) A public limited company

c) Sole trader (one owner of the company)

d) Partnership

e) Other type of business, explain

2. What size was the company in which you were working ?

very small (1 to 10 employees)

small (10 to 50)

medium (50 to 200)

large (200 to 500)

very large (500 +)

3. How long ago was the business established?

Within the last few years

One decade ago

More than 20 years ago

More than 50 years ago

More than 70 years ago

Other _______________________________________

4. What were the main activities of the whole firm?

a) Selling products

b) Providing a service to the public

c) Customer Service

d) Fabricating products

e) Other, explain _________________________________

5. During your training period, did you receive any of the following ‘extras’ from the company?

Free meals

Help with transport costs

Gratuity

Objects to help you carry out your work, explain _______________

6. How many hours did you work during an average working day, and what time did you start and finish?

Written response

7. What was the name and title of your tutor during your work placement?

Written response

8. During your training period, what was the main way in which you communicated with colleagues or customers?

Face to face

Using the telephone

By email

A variety of the three

Other, explain ____________________________________

9. In your work place, how many departments did you work with?

One department, where I spent the whole training period

Two departments, my time there was split equally between departments

Mainly one department, but I helped out in others occasionally

A variety of departments

Other _____________________________________________

10. Were you told about Hygiene and Security rules in your work place?

a) Hygiene and Security rules were explained in great detail, and I felt confident about what I should do in an emergency.

b) Some rules were explained, and I knew where emergency exits were etc, but it wasn’t in much detail

c) I knew some rules, but lacked a lot of knowledge

d) No rules were explained to me, and I felt unsure about safety procedures etc

e) Other _____________________________________________

11. How much contact did you have with customers or members of the public?

a) Very little contact with customers, I spent my time mostly with colleagues or alone

b) A bit of contact with customers, but just greeting them and taking their details

c) A good deal of contact with customers, talking to them and helping them

d) Lots of contact with customers, answering questions, giving advice etc

e) Other ______________________________________________

12. During your work placement, which of the following machines did you use very often?

A PC

A laptop

A printer

A photocopier

A switchboard

A fax machine

Other __________________________________

13. Which of the following computer programmes did you use?

Word-processing programme

Database programme

Spreadsheet programme

The internet

Email

Other _________________________________

14. Which studies were the main tasks you carried out most linked to?

a) Secretarial Studies

b) Accountancy Studies

c) Other ____________________________________

15. Did you complete any of the following tasks during your work placement?

Receiving, sorting and distributing mail

Producing, printing out or writing messages

Managing files

Placing orders and completing purchasing documents

Organising meetings and/or events

Taking part in recruitment activities

Other ___________________________________

16. During your work placement, how did you feel about your work?

Very interesting and worthwhile, for the company and myself

Useful for the company, but not particularly beneficial for me

It depended on the activity on each day, but overall I found it interesting

It depended on the activity, but overall I found it not very worthwhile

I did not find it helpful or interesting

Other __________________________________________

17. How did you find working with your colleagues?

I got on very well with my colleagues, and had a good working relationship with them

I got on well with most of my colleagues but felt quite distant from them

Some people I got on with, but the majority I felt a bit separated from

My colleagues helped when I had a problem, but otherwise I did not speak to them very often

I did not have any colleagues who I felt close to or who I got on well with

Other _________________________________________

18. Which personal skills did you use the most during your work placement?

a) Initiative

b) Organisation

c) Team work

d) Confidence

e) IT skills

f) Communication skills

g) Other _________________________________________

19. What means of transport did you use to travel to work?

a) Car

b) Bus

c) Walking

d) Train

e) Other ________________________________________

20. How long did the journey to work take?

a) Less than 5 minutes

b) Between 5 and 10 minutes

c) Between 10 and 20 minutes

d) Between 20 and 30 minutes

e) More than 30 minutes

For those students who completed their work placement in France the questionnaire ends here, if you went abroad, complete the following questions.

21. What type of accommodation were you staying in with your host family?

A cottage/ farm or house in the country

A detached town house

A semi-detached or terrace town house

An apartment

Other ___________________________________

22. Who was the host family composed of?

A single person

A married couple

A young family with children

One parent and children

An older couple with children

Other, explain

23. How did you feel you got on with the family?

Extremely well, I felt very happy and at-ease with the family

Quite well, most of the time I liked being with the host family

Sometimes it was nice, but I spent quite a lot of time alone

I felt I didn’t see much of the host family, so I wasn’t very close to them

Not very well, the situation didn’t suit me very well

Other ____________________________________________

24. What sort of food did you eat with the host family?

Nice, healthy and traditional English food, and I tried new dishes

I did not try any English food with the host family, it was food I already knew

Some nice meals, but lots of convenience food

I didn’t like the majority of the food I ate with the host family

Other ___________________________________________

25. What did you do in the evenings with your host family?

We ate together, and then did activities together like going out for the evening, or doing things together at home (playing games, watching films etc)

Sometimes I took part in activities with the family/ children

We ate together, but I did my own thing in the evenings most of the time

I did not really do anything with my family in the evening

Other ____________________________________________

26. What did you do at the weekend?

I went out with my host family to visit local places of interest, it was fun.

I did a few things together with my host family and we spent time together at home

I met my friends and went out with them

I stayed at home, and did not see friends or do activities with my host family

Other ___________________________________________

27. What sort of conversations did you have with your host family?

We had interesting conversations about current issues and differences between our cultures, as well as them helping me with my English

We talked about every day things, and what I had done that day. Sometimes they helped me with my English

We talked about simple things, but often the conversation was limited

I did not feel like I talked much to the host family, because of the language barrier

I did not feel I spoke to my family, because I didn’t want to speak to them

Other _______________________________________________

28. Did you get the chance to do any of the following activities to help improve your English?

Read magazines and newspapers regularly

Read articles on the internet

Watch television and films

Go to the cinema

Other __________________________________

29. Overall, how did you feel about your training period abroad?

I found it extremely beneficial and I really enjoyed it

I like my work placement, but the rest of the time I did not enjoy myself

I liked spending time with my host family/ friends but not my work placement

I enjoyed it sometimes, but I found it quite difficult to adapt to life abroad

I did not really enjoy it, I found it very difficult

Other _________________________________________

Write a structured paragraph with all these questions in about 15-20 lines.

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